Sanitary smoking pipe



Nov. 14, 1967 A. A. KAUI.

SANITARY SMOKING PIPE Filed Dec. 14, 1964 INVENTOR APT/IHA A. KAL/L ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,352,309 SANITARY SMOKING PIPE Arthur A.Kaul, 961 Chehalis Ave., Chehals, Wash. 98532 Filed Dec. 14, 1964, Ser.No. 417,991 1 Claim. (Cl. 131-224) This invention relates to a tobaccosmoking pipe, the construction of which results in a pipe having adesirable sanitary character.

A principal object is to provide such a smoking pipe in which thetobacco burns cleanly and virtually completely, leaving a minimum ofresidue. To accomplish this object the pipe construction provides adraft well distributed through the tobacco providing etlicientcombustion of the tobacco.

Another object is to provide a tobacco smoking pipe which will stay dryand clean, and in which formation of condensate which dampens thetobacco will be deterred.

A further object is to provide a tobacco smoking pipe having theaforesaid capabilities which will be of generally conventionalappearance and will be light and not cumbersome.

These objects can be accomplished by a pipe having a unitary bowl and anintegral stem stub in which the bowl preferably has a yflat bottom ofsubstantial area and a perforated grate of hard, impervious,lire-resistant material screwed into the lower portion of the bowl at alocation spaced a substantial distance above the bowl bottom. The smokepassage through the stem stub opens into the bowl cavity even with thebase. A bit is secured to the projecting end of the stem stub by a pushfit.

FIGURE l is a top perspective of the smoking pipe with parts in explodedrelationship, and having portions broken away.

FIGURE 2 is a longitudinal vertical such a smoking pipe and FIGURE 3 isa section through the pipe stem on line 3-3 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal vertical section through a portion of thepipe showing a cleaning tool in use. FIG- URE 5 is a top perspective ofsuch cleaning tool.

FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of a modified type of smoking pipe having aportion broken away on a vertical longitudinal plane, and FIGURE 7 is asection through the pipe stem on line 7 7 of FIGURE 6.

The bowl 1 of the pipe can be of conventional exterior shape, but it ispreferred that it be integral with the pipe stem 2, both to preserve theappearance of a conventional pipe and for economy of production. Thebowl cavity 3, as shown best in FIGURE 2, preferably tapers downward toa grate 4 with gently curving sides. Below such grate the cavity iscylindrical.

The important novel feature of the pipe bowl is the provision in thelower portion of the cavity 3 of the per-forated grate 4, which willconstitute the bottom of the tobacco-holding portion of the bowl cavity.This grate is perforated by having several small holes 5 extendin-gthrough it. Six of such holes are shown in FIGURES l and 2, although thenumber can vary. These holes are distributed over the area of the grateso that air will ow through such holes and generally through -the bodyof the tobacco above the grate, rather than through any particularchannel.

While the pipe bowl and bit are made of conventional pipe materials, thegrate 4 preferably is made of material which is durable, noncombustible,nonmetallic, hard, dense and impervious to any liquids which maycondense from tobacco in the pipe bowl cavity. Suitable materials forthe grate are porcelain, tempered glass or ceramic material.

In order to constitute an effective and well distributed section through3,352,309 Patented Nov. 14, 1967 ICC support for the tobacco in the pipebowl cavity it is preferred that t-he diameter of the grate 4 constitutea major portion of the diameter of the upper portion of the cavity 3.The pattern in which the holes 5 are arranged in the grate is largelyimmaterial as long as they are well distributed. It is, however,important that the grate be capable of being mounted in the pipe bowlcavity satisfactorily and a convenient arrangement for mounting thegrate is by the use of mounting threads so that the grate can be screwedinto place.

The periphery of the grate 4, as shown best in FIGURE l, has machined orformed on it external threads 6. These threads are of a shapecomplemental to the internal threads 7 formed about an annulus in thelower portion of the pipe bowl, but spaced upwardly a substantialdistance from the bottom 8 of the bowl. Preferably the area of suchbottom is very nearly as great as the area of the grate 6 and the bottomis substantially flat so as to avoid the formation of any appreciablepocket, or sump, in the bottom of the bowl cavity.

From the lower portion of the bowl cavity a lateral smoke passage 9extends through the stem stub 2. As shown in FIGURE 2 the opening ofthis smoke passage is even with the floor or bottom 8 of the bowl cavityso as to eliminate any trap for the accumulation of liquid below thesmoke passage. Toward the outer end of the stem stub 2 the smoke passageis considerably enlarged to receive the hollow projection 10 of theypipe bit 11, which can be engaged in the smoke passage with a push lit.The bore of such projection is large enough to receive in it acylindrical filter 12, which extends beyond the end of the projectioninto the smoke passage. The :filter can be made of rolled absorbentpaper, or other suitable conventional filter construction.

A filter is desirable to absorb any condensation from the smoke whichmay pass through the grate, or condense from the smoke below the grate,to prevent passage of condensate into the smokers mouth. Thedistribution of draft effected by the grate greatly reduces condensationof moisture from the smoke in the combustion chamber above the grate,which promotes more complete combustion of the tobacco. Also, because ofthe excellent draft provided by the grate the tobacco can be packed moretightly in the pipe bowl without cutting off the draft through the pipe.Such improved draft also enables the pipe to hold its ire unusuallywell. Consequently, more tobacco can be placed in a given bowl at asingle filling, which will provide a longer smoking period.

Because the grate 4 promotes clean burning of the tobacco in the bowlcavity 3 above the grate there is little tendency for any residue toaccumulate in the holes 5. If these holes should becomes obstructed toany appreciable extent they can be cleaned without the necessity ofremoving the grate from the pipe bowl. Also, for the same reason therewill be a minimum of accumulation of residue on the door 8 of the bowlcavity because material which would accumulate here either must passthrough holes 5 or be precipitated from the smoke.

L1 FIGURES 4 and 5 a tool is shown which can be used to remove anyresidue which may accumulate in the bottom of the bowl cavity, or in thegrate perforations 5. On one end of the tool shank 14 is a hoe-shapedscraper 15 and on the other end is a punch 16 of a size to tit theperforations 5. As shown in FIGURE 4, when the bit 11 is removed fromthe pipe stem stub 2 the hoeshaped end of the cleaning tool can beinserted through the smoke passage. Because the bottom of this passageis even with the bottom 8 of the bowl cavity, as shown in FIGURES 2 and5, the residue can be scraped out through the smoke passage easily.

If it is desired to clean out the perforations 5 the strength of thejoint-between the bit and the pipe stemA stub, it is preferred toprovide a ferrule 13which may be in the form of a metal band and isof awidth lengthwise of the pipe stern to provide adequate bearing onopposite sides of the stern joint, which it -straddlesi Preferably theadjacent ends of the stem stub and the bit are shouldered so that theferrule 13 will be recessed into these parts to disposed the outersurface of the ferrule ush with the-outer surfaces of thestem stub andthe i bit,` asshown best in FIGURE 2, and such parts are generallyelliptical.

The principles of the presentinventionl can be applied to differenttypes of pipe shapes.- A representative alternat-ive shape of pipe isillustrated in' FIGURES 6 and 7. Whilethe exterior shape of bowl 1 issomewhat different from that of the bowl 1 in FIGURES `1 to 4, the shapeof the tobacco cavity is similar. In this instance the stern stub y2slopes upwardly fromthe bowl instead of being substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of the bowl. The smoke passage, 9 is stilldisposed even with the bottom of the tobacco cavity, although the smokepassage is` inclined relative to the plane of `the bottom. Thisrelationship of the parts still avoids formation of a sump in the bottomof the bow cavity.

As shown in FIGURE 7 the stern of the pipe is substantially square incross section at opposite sides of the joint between the bit and thestern stub. In this instance theadjacent ends of the stem stub 2' andthe pipe 11' are not shouldered toY provide a recess for accommodating aferrule. Instead, the ferrule 13 encircles the pipe stem as anoutstanding band. The portion of this ferrule overlapping the end of thetstem stub should be suitable bonded to it and the end of the bit 11shouldnt into Ythe ferrule with a push lit, as welltas the hollowprojection 10 of the bit Iitting into the smoke passage 9 with a push t.

I claim as my invention:

In a smoking pipe, a one-piece bowl and stern stub unit, said bowlhaving an open upper end portion providing a cavity of circular crosssection, with a lower portion having a smaller cross-sectional area thanthe cross section of the upper portion of the cavity, the inner wall ofsuch portion of smaller cross-sectional area having an internal threadat a location spaced abovethe bottom of such cavity, and atobacco-supporting grate of uniform thickness and having a smallerdiameter than that of said upper portion, of hard, noncombustible,nonmetalligimpervious material having a plurality of perforationstherethrough distributed over its area, insertable in the lower portionof the bowl cavity and having an external thread engageable with saidvinternal thread of the bowl cavity wall by inserting said` grate intothe upper portion of said bowl and screwing it downward for securingsaid grate in the bowlt cavity at a location spaced above its bottom.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 764,125 7/1904 Heald 131-224 X775,624 1l/1904 Horn.

944,418' 12/1909 Drew 131-184 1,349,293 8/1920 Perkins 131-224 X1,839,505 1/1932 Schulz 131-224 X 1,950,645 3/1934 Wheelock 131-224 X2,140,649 12/1938 Pedery 131-205 2,316,162 4/1943 Helm 131-224 X2,746,459 5 1956 Coble 131-224 X FOREIGN PATENTS 5,432 3/ 188.9 GreatBritain. 697,036 10/ 1930 France. 162,537 9/1933 Switzerland.

ALDRICH F. MEDBERY, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL KOREN, Examiner. JOSEPH S. REICH, AssistantExamner,

